Dan Erhart is now the Anoka County board's elder statesman. He has served previously as chairman, championed bringing a proposed Vikings stadium to Blaine and was lauded by Gov. Tim Pawlenty as the driving force behind the Northstar commuter rail line.

But after an election that has left him "discouraged," he wonders about his role on the board and who will replace Dennis Berg as chairman.

"I had a vision of the future," said Erhart, whose seat was not up for election, "and that will apparently have to wait."

Stung by the defeat of his longtime friend and transportation ally, DFL Rep. James Oberstar, Erhart is equally discouraged about the prospect that a board he saw as progressive is about to change.

He says he no longer has interest in being chairman and is realistic enough to know that he probably wouldn't be picked by a board that grew more conservative with the election of Ramsey City Council Member Matt Look and the reelection of Robyn West.

After last week's voting, Erhart met with longtime Commissioner Jim Kordiak, who Erhart says wants to become chairman -- a job his father, Al Kordiak, held for years. The other obvious candidate for chair is Rhonda Sivarajah, a fiscal conservative whose comments often leave Erhart biting his lower lip.

"Any of the board members would be qualified to be the chair," said County Administrator Terry Johnson. "The board will decide. It's important that the board has a transition time and not make radical changes."

The county is going through a number of changes as it is. Several key officials -- Johnson among them -- are close to retirement age.

Tony Palumbo is the newly elected county attorney -- after a 33-year apprenticeship, doing a bit of everything in the county attorney's office. James Stuart, the new sheriff, also is a familiar face to the county board.

With the retirements of Berg and Dick Lang, and Scott LeDoux's resignation due to illness, three of the seven board members are newcomers.

Look is a fiscal conservative who questions the need for another rail line Erhart is pushing: The Northern Lights Express passenger line from Minneapolis to Duluth. Without Oberstar's pull, that line and the proposed extension of the Northstar commuter line to St. Cloud may be left at the station, Erhart worries.

The other new board members, Carol LeDoux and Andy Westerberg, are harder to label.

In this corner . . .

Carol LeDoux is expected to follow, somewhat, in the footsteps of her husband, Scott, the former commissioner who is battling ALS. He resigned from office in May.

As a commissioner, Scott LeDoux was a progressive thinker, and Carol LeDoux is at least as vocally strong as her husband.

On the evening of her election, the final precincts just in, she was savoring her victory with one breath and worrying about "how we can grow jobs in Anoka County. People can talk about cuts all they want, but the biggest concern should be finding jobs so people can earn a living."

Westerberg, a former legislator, appears to be the wild card. Like Carol LeDoux, he defies labels. A fiscal conservative, he was the sponsor of the House bill to bring the Vikings to Anoka County four years ago.

"I'm willing to listen to people on both sides of the issues," Westerberg said.

"I haven't thought about who will be chair of the board, or what my role will be in determining that," Westerberg said. "I'm still trying to wind down my campaign. I have lawn signs in five cities that need to be collected."

'In good hands'

Meanwhile, Erhart braces for the possibility of a diminished role, should Sivarajah become board chair.

"If she becomes chair and that group runs the county, they'll tell me what they want me to do, and I'll do a good job no matter what," Erhart said.

Johnson believes the county will be in good hands, regardless of where the various pieces fit. He says Erhart's assessments are reasonable, but alliances on the board aren't always obvious. For example, Kordiak and West, whose opinions often differ when it's time to vote, formed a formidable team for the county's broadband project.

"We're always changing," Johnson said. "We're not the same organization we were 20 years ago.

"We'll have changes in committees, but we're going to have a strong board. I think this board will be able to work together. Will it change things? Yeah. Will those changes be radical? I don't think so."

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419